Beachy Keen

I have no idea why I've decided to start this post with this picture, or why I'm posting it to TCK at all. I can't really explain it, other than to say that the moment I saw it it made me feel good. I'm going through all of the pictures from the recent trip to Virginia, deciding what to post and what to print out for inclusion in cards to Grandparents and Great Grandparents and others. I also need to isolate a few photos that Jeff has requested. As I did this the above picture popped up and made me happy. I don't really know why. It's a fairly pedestrian shot of me standing on the beach with one of my best friends and my brother as my stepmom Sandi looks on. But it pleases me. So here it is.

As indicated in my last post, we were on a recent trip to Virginia, a trip that was more or less a surprise. I'll go into some of the details at some point, possibly, but the picture above shows me the first full day in Virginia. I flew into the airport in Newport News with Wendy, Kiernan, and my dad. We got in and had a delightful crockpot meal that Sandi had waiting, and eventually got to bed. My brother Mason was supposed to show up with several of his friends sometime during the night, and apparently ended up arriving at around six in the morning. He and his friends pitched Mason's tent on the front lawn and crashed there.

I slept in, which is one nice part of bringing your child to visit his grandparents. I was awakened by another surprise: my very good friend Jeff's face. That's him standing next to me in the picture. The one without the headband, "Stop the War" button, and tie-dyed pants. He crawled up next to me on top of the bed and said, "Good morning!" Or something. The mixture of groggy and surprise has prevented me from remembering exactly what he said. Suffice to say, it was delightful to see him, and I was happy that I'd remembered to pack pajamas.

We ended up spending a good part of the day with Jeff and Kathryn, who have been friends for a delightfully long time, and their amazing daughter Helen. I'll include more pics of all of us later. For now, just a couple more beach pictures:


The original plan was for Jeff and Kathryn to spend the day with us kicking around Williamsburg. We all met and went to school and lived together there, so whenever we can we like to spend some time there together. Once again, pictures of said adventure will follow, but first you must partake in Jeff and Christien's hunt for the missing squid (pictured above, and below). The beach in question is just down the way from my dad and Sandi's house, located on the York River. Dad and Sandi have a bunch of beach toys at the ready, and included in these toys are a couple of plastic squid creatures. As we packed up the toys, Jeff and I became convinced that the green squid was missing. Nobody else believed in the green squid, but we would not let it go. We were sure it had been covered with sand.


We never found the squid, sadly. And nobody really cared except for us. So these pictures are really useless, except that I love the scene. I'm about to turn forty, and before spending a day in Williamsburg here I am digging in the sand in November with one of my best friends from college.

These are the things that make me smile.

Oh, and don't worry. The ensuing posts about the trip will definitely feature pictures of Kiernan.